Literacy Speaks Volumes

Irish Christmas Traditions The biggest difference between Christmas traditions in Ireland and the United States is that Christmas in Ireland is all about culture and tradition. The legends and origins of Irish Christmas traditions are like a giant tapestry, pulling one thread naturally begins to unravel several others. There are many traditions in Ireland that are similar to those tradition in America. The Irish exchange gifts, and children visit with Santa Claus. Americans tend to go all out with their outdoor lights and decorations, but Irish homes are decorated more simply and humbly. Irish Christmas season begins December 8 and continues through the twelve days after Christmas. Irish Christmas traditions are older with many dating back to Celtic traditions. Candles in the Window Candles in the window are symbolic of welcoming wanderers to the Irish home. The tradition is symbolic of welcoming Mary and Joseph. The candle was also used as a signal for passing priests the...

Introduction TNReady is designed to measure students’ real understanding of material. For this reason, it’s important that students are exposed to a variety of texts and tasks. In the middle school classroom, the writing needs to be at least fifty percent informational text. Volume in reading and writing is important. How can the middle school teacher increase volume and rigor into the writing classroom? The volume of writing is a key ingredient in the classroom. The teacher can model and confer with students all day long, but if students don’t write, they will not grow as writers. Teaching Writing Strategies Many of the writing strategies that we use as writers are not obvious to our students. Students do not know how to write an introduction or a conclusion. They do not know how to research valuable and relevant sources. These skills must be taught as strategies if we want our students to learn them. These issues in writing will come up often in the writing classroom, and ...

In the United States, Native Americans are considered to be people whose pre-Columbian ancestors were indigenous to the lands within the nation’s modern boundaries. These peoples were composed of numerous distinct tribes, bands, and ethnic groups, and many of these groups survive intact today as sovereign nations. The terms Native Americans use to refer to themselves vary regionally and generationally, with many older Native Americans self-identifying as “Indians” or “American Indians.” Younger Native Americans sometimes call themselves “Indigenous People.”  The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during the Early Modern period. Pre-Columbian technically means before Christopher Columbus came to the Americas, but it also me...

An Autobiographical Narrative An autobiographical narrative is a first-person story, so the words I and me play an important part. Even though others shared the experience, remember that you’re writing from your point of view. As you jot down details, stress what you saw and heard and felt, what you did, what you thought, and what the event meant to you. When you write your autobiographical narrative, you should show your experience to your readers—not just tell them about it. One way to do this is to collect sensory details about places, people, and things to use in your writing. For example, you could collect sensory details about a specific moment during a lightning storm. Now what you observe with all your senses, not just your eyes. What do you see? What sounds do you hear? What do you feel, both with your skin and in your emotions? Does anything have a taste or smell? Either during or soon after the event, jot down notes of your observations. As you write, try to use pre...

Standard English Standard English refers to whatever folks accept as a national norm in any English-speaking country. It includes grammar, vocabulary, and spelling. In the United States, it is called General American English. General American English is a form of American English. American English is what most Americans speak. Linguists debate the precise definition of General American English as it is still evolving. Scholars use the term as classification only. American English is a set of dialects of the English Language Natives in the United States. English is the common language of the United States Government. The use of English in the United States is a result of British Colonization. The first wave of English-speaking settlers arrived in North America during the 17th century. Further migrations followed in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since then, American English has been influenced by the languages of West Africa, the Native American population, German, Dutch, Irish,...

Original Art by Melissa Reese Etheridge Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19 th century and has persisted in many forms since then. Most recently, it has become a type of education that relies on standards-based testing. A progressive curriculum is distinguished from a more traditional type of education. One of the hallmarks of progressive education is an emphasis on learning by doing. This type of education is also known as experiential learning. This type of learning is defined as learning through reflection on doing. Learning by doing is very much focused on how an individual learns. Experiential learning focuses on the learning process for the individual student. One example of experiential learning is going to the zoo and learning through observation and interaction with the zoo environment, as opposed to reading about animals in a book. The student makes discoveries and experiments with knowledge first hand. This type of learn...